The Worth Of Being Listed In Business.com
Is getting listed in Business.com worth it?
Well, the truth of the matter is that it depends. How much is a particular ranking worth to your business? Are you in a competitive field? Do you have more time than money or money than time? As with most things, there are just a ton of variables.
If rankings matter to you, and if your niche is somewhat competitive, IMO, Business.com can be a great directory to be listed in for most websites. Why?
Well, when the guys at SEOmoz put out their 2009 Search Engine Ranking Factors they listed the 5 most important factors in Search Engine Rankings in 2009 as:
- Keyword Focused Anchor Text from External Links
- External Link Popularity (How many total external links point to your site)
- Diversity of Link Sources (How many unique domains link to your site)
- Keyword Use Anywhere in the Page Title
- Trustworthiness of the Domain
So let’s see how a listing in Business.com matches up to those factors
Keyword Focused Anchor Text from External Links
Business.com realizes that often times a website name has very little to do with the content of a website and as a web searcher, you need descriptive words to know if you want to visit a site. Thus they ask you in their TOS to please make the anchor text of your link descriptive.
External Link Popularity (How many total external links point to your site)
In the effort to gain more links to your site, Business.com is a great source as it is a fairly easy link to get if you have a decent website and are willing to let your website be editorially reviewed.
Diversity of Link Sources (How many unique domains link to your site)
Business.com is an easy way to diversify the backlinks that your site has.
Keyword Use Anywhere in the Page Title
Getting in the right directory category allows the link to your site to fall on a topically relevant page- meaning relevant links are good links!
Trustworthiness of the Domain
Using SEOmoz’s Linkscape tool, Business.com shows a domain trust of about 6.6 out of 10. To put that in perspective, USAToday has a domain trust of around 7.5 and the Dallas Morning News does as well. So in terms of the trust level of the domain, it is on par with those two news sources. Not bad for a one off price of about $299 forever!
Matt Cutts on the Value of Directories For Search Rankings
Matt Cutts, the Google czar of search quality, talked about what makes a directory a valuable link in this video
To summarize he notes:
- End User Value: is it a list of links or is it valuable to users? FWIW, I know lots of people get solid business leads from Business.com, so it is a valuable service.
- Price Point on Getting In: The higher the better… At $299 its a pretty high price point.
- Editorial Value: Do some sites get rejected, and the answer is yes on that front.
So in the end, my vote is a big Yes if search engine rankings are valuable to your business plan.
Here’s a Coupon for $50 off The Business.com directory listing:
Click the image and $50 will be subtracted when you enter your website. Good Luck!
One Comments
Thanks for breaking down the reasons why Business is a good directory.
After doing a lot of research, I noticed that most SEO people recommend Dmoz, Botw, Business, and Yahoo for directories.
I think it can make a very big impact for sites that have only mild competition, and especially if they have their keywords in their domain.
So I agree with all of your points and I think that it is worth it (even though it is very pricey).